Date Received: 2021-11-19
Issue: Other transaction problem
Subissue:
Consumer Complaint: On XX/XX/2021 at approximately XXXX EST, my Coinbase account was drained of funds. This was an unauthorized transaction. Coinbase support responded to my inquiry stating that it was my responsibility to protect the integrity of the security relating to my account. Further stating they were unable to help in any way. The amount of the unauthorized transfer is for : XXXX XX/XX/XXXX XXXX {$4200.00} XXXX XXXX Supporting documents are attached.
Company Response:
State: NY
Zip: 148XX
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2021-11-19
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2021-11-19
Issue: Fraud or scam
Subissue:
Consumer Complaint: This is to complain against the Coinbase Inc. ( Coinbase ). URGENCY : HIGH IMPORTANCE : HIGH [ WITHOUT PREJUDICE ] I wish to practice my right as a customer of Coinbase to use your organisation 's service, seeking a formal, impartial investigation to amicably settle my dispute with Coinbase. In order to clear up the myriad of letters and correspondences I have hitherto sent to Coinbase respecting my complaint, I believe it will substantially strengthen both my case and your understanding, by taking a deeper look at the happenings of my case, and analysing the relevant facts in an objective and comprehensive fashion. It is crucial to note that I have been manipulated, socially-engineered and coerced to engage these fraudulent criminals. Much to my embarrassment, I recognize that I am the victim of an investment scam. My complaint to the CFPB has arisen as I do not consider, by any stretch of the imagination, the conduct of Coinbase to be commensurate with their legal role and responsibility to their customers. They sell a service to look after their customers, protect their money and are a financial institution that maintains a traditional relationship and way of working with its customers. During the complaints process with Coinbase, I found their communication ineffective, which further hides their conduct to management and diminishes the service offering to their clients. They are struggling to adapt their business offering in the ever-changing world of IT development. The internet is presenting a real problem which they choose to manage in a way which is not in line with rules and regulations of CFPB as well as their own internal policy and procedures sold to their clients. General Obligation : Commencing on or about XX/XX/2021, I fell victim to two multi-layered scam operations run by XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX / XXXX which involved me making deposits for a total amount of XXXX USD and approx. XXXX XXXX from my Coinbase account to these fraudulent investment companies. When determining whats reasonable and fair, we should focus on the issue of liability ; common queries include, but are not limited to, the following ( i ) whether Coinbase did not take notice of any rule, law, or regulation, and/or possibly missed any material elements of the relevant bylaws or codes of conduct, that may have prevented them from protecting my financial safety ; ( ii ) whether by virtue of Coinbases custodianship over my funds or by its control over them, they owed a fiduciary duty to the me and if so, whether that duty was breached ; ( iii ) whether Coinbase promoted the transaction ( s ) in question despite being aware of the nature of the transaction ( s ) in question ( iv ) whether Coinbase was in compliance with its own policies and procedures ; ( v ) whether Coinbase owed duties to myself, what the scope of those duties was, and whether Coinbase did not uphold those duties ; ( vi ) whether Coinbases conduct was unfair ; and ( vii ) whether Coinbase has within its power the ability to, and should, compensate me for the harm that has befallen me. Upon identification of such unusual or suspicious activity, it is crucial that the relevant staff member adequately describe the factors making an activity or transaction suspicious, thoroughly depict the extent and nature of this activity and properly communicate to the customer that such activity meets the relevant criteria of fraud. In providing its services to a customer, a financial institution is required by law to exercise the care and skill of a diligent, prudent organization. In this case, this means that the payment service provider should not turn a XXXX eye to known facts pointing to a real possibility that their customer is being scammed. In other words, Coinbase must have had special knowledge of what was occurring or been alerted to a real possibility of fraud taking place. The financial institution must have known or reasonably ought to have known that I was dealing with a scammer. Granted, there is room for diversity of view insofar as reasonableness is concerned. Indeed, there is a sense in which the standard of care of the reasonable person involves in its application a subjective element. However, it must be remembered that the correct test is always reasonable care in all circumstances, not average care. The fact that most people behave in a certain way may be good evidence that the conduct is reasonable, but this is not necessarily the case. Although reasonableness is a very fluid concept, all of the evidence suggests that Coinbase did not foresee the fraud and disregarded even the most obvious dangers in this respect. Situations do tend to repeat themselves and it is advisable to examine previous outcomes to see how the standard of the reasonable person should be applied, and that lessons can be learnt from the errors of the past. Coinbases Position : On XX/XX/2021, XXXX have sent XXXX USD to my account in XXXX, as a compensation. Refuting Coinbases arguments from a purely logical perspective : I do not consider it as reasonable and sufficient enough. You have to understand that as a result of this scam I lost all of my savings in the total amount of XXXX USD and approx. XXXX XXXX. This is a huge part of my life and I need Coinbase to give me a better compensation. Coinbases position is that the features of the situation at hand do not generate a genuine obligation to protect innocent and helpless victims ; they are essentially arguing that common-sense-based approaches are doomed to fail, leaving their exclusively technical account of the subject matter as the only meaningful choice. For reasons which are unclear, this extremely serious situation barely gets the attention it deserves even though ample evidence has been offered in support of this complaint. In Coinbases view, it is implied that we should not home in ( and consequently rely ) on unwritten laws, practicality, good judgement, reasonableness, sharpness, sensibleness, past outcomes, and insight, when taking appropriate precautions. To underscore, once again, such views are at odds with common sense and are wildly irresponsible. Imagine a view according to which the one and only thing that can make Coinbase morally obligated to do something is having it written down somewhere. Pursuant to this view, if Coinbase encounter the suffering of totally naive victims, they are only obligated to intervene in or remedy the situation, to the degree required by written material. This is unbecoming for a reputable establishment such as Coinbase. I have reviewed the material hereto sent by Coinbase carefully, and it unfortunately provides no response to my fundamental argument concerning the degree of care. Given its size, influence, and the resources at its disposal, this establishment clearly had a far greater capacity than an individual such as myself had, to determine the level and likelihood of risk that a client such as myself is subjected to and had a duty to intervene as they now do to query in particular out-of-pattern transactions of this kind. It is perfectly obvious that Coinbase, inadvertently, employs a subtle approach in addressing some of the key questions in a manner which neither provides me with adequate support nor protects anything other than its own interests. It is Coinbase here, who has the burden of proof, to show that it has exercised the duty of care, that is to say, that Coinbase adhered to a standard of reasonable care in relation to the matter at issue given its extensive experience compared to mine. It is Coinbase that claims that the damages which I have suffered in connection to this matter have not been reasonably foreseeable, and that my proposed degree of care is not, and has not been, commensurate with Coinbases capacity, experience, expertise, or scope of services in any way. To reemphasize, Coinbases indisputable overriding purpose is by no means to purely execute transactions in a XXXX and blank fashion, but rather to strike a balance between executing those transactions and capitalizing on its undeniably vast capabilities to protect consumers thereby enhancing market integrity. Coinbase is obliged to take some action if it is sufficiently aware of a real possibility that a fraud may be being perpetuated. If they don't question its customers instructions or raise the possibility of a scam with the customer in these circumstances, it may be liable if the red flags indicate the customer is : particularly vulnerable, or if the possibility of fraud was serious or real, not just suspected. There are some recommendations to organisations for protecting customers from financial harm that might occur as a result of fraud or financial abuse ; and gives guidance on how to recognise customers who might be at risk, how to assess the potential risks to the individual and how to take the necessary actions to prevent or minimise financial harm.
Company Response:
State: IL
Zip: 60634
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2021-11-19
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2021-11-19
Issue: Managing an account
Subissue: Deposits and withdrawals
Consumer Complaint: I opened a Coinbase account and transferred {$500.00} into it. At a later date, I opened an Coinbase XXXX account and also transferred from my bank {$500.00}. I've made a few small trades using Coinbase XXXX and this account balance should be approximately {$510.00}. I decided to close my Coinbase account and keep my Coinbase pro account open. After transferring {$500.00} from Coinbase to my bank, this account ( XXXX balance ) was closed and deleted on XXXX XX/XX/2021. Unknowing to me, this also removed access to my Coinbase XXXX account. I submitted my issue via email on XXXX XX/XX/2021 to Coinbase support. They responded via email on XXXX XX/XX/2021, XXXX # XXXX and told me to sign up to Coinbase using the same email address that I originally used. I did this ... and now have access to both Coinbase and Coinbase XXXX. The problem however, Coinbase XXXX now shows XXXX balance ( should be approximately {$510.00} ). I have since responded/replied to Coinbase support referencing my XXXX # XXXX and asking for help resolving my fund balance ( missing {$510.00} ). I received an automated response saying " Were working hard to quickly address this issue, and we'll reach out to you as soon as we have an update ''. As of today ( XXXX XX/XX/2021 )... This issue is still unresolved and have not received any status updates from Coinbase. I called their customer service number at XXXX ( XXXX ) XXXX. This is basically useless.
Company Response:
State: FL
Zip: 32806
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2021-11-19
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2021-11-19
Issue: Fraud or scam
Subissue:
Consumer Complaint: My information was compromised in a Coinbase data breach. It was then used in a sim swap scam that began at XXXX central time XX/XX/XXXX. I attempted to reach out to XXXX support, but they have not been forthcoming or available. I lost {$600.00} in assets on XXXX. Additionally, the scammers have been charging my bank accounts and XXXX will not stop this activity or secure my information.
Company Response:
State: OK
Zip: 73505
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2021-11-19
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2021-11-18
Issue: Other transaction problem
Subissue:
Consumer Complaint: I sent a large amount of money from XXXX, a crytpo exchange to CoinBase, another crypto exchange. Roughly {$27000.00}. This was done on XX/XX/21. This was going to be used for me and my family as we are having a XXXX child and my wife is quitting work. I sent this in the form of XXXX, and somehow I accidentally clicked to send it as XXXX ( XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX ) as opposed to XXXX, a common XXXX that coinbase uses. So I had {$27000.00} in XXXX sent to my CoinBase XXXX XXXX. CoinBase does not " support '' XXXX. So my funds are currently inaccessible, even though they are sitting in a wallet controlled by coinbase. I have filed many support tickets about this and they simply give me these automated responses saying " make sure you check that we support the crpyto that you are sending ''. They in fact do not support XXXX, but the reality is that both XXXX and XXXX are XXXX XXXX tokens, and they CAN reverse the transaction. They hold the keys to the wallet that my {$27000.00} of XXXX is sitting in, NOT me. If you have the keys to a wallet with an XXXX token in it ( both XXXX and XXXX ) are XXXX tokens, then you CAN reverse this transaction. Many other exchanges do this for their customers, often for a fee, which would be fine with me. They are simply unwilling to do this. Maybe because the scale of their company that they get so many requests like this that it is not worth their time? I am not sure. But they have {$27000.00} of mine and are refusing to return it or even attempt to support me in anyway. I have done many searches on the internet about this and there are many people in the same situation as me. I believe coinbase has an obligation to their customers offer a service to reverse these unsupported crypto transactions. People make simple mistakes misclick a currency all the time, and to just expect that these people need to accept the lose of 5+ figure transactions is not OK. The fact is they CAN assist with this, they just won't for whatever reason. They must be sitting on millions and millions of " unsupported cryptos '' which they have the power to reverse. Please support me in this endeavor. I doubt my message alone will be enough to give them the kick in the XXXX they need, but I hope that with enough pressure they will realize they need to take action on this matter. Here is the wallet address that my {$27000.00} is sitting in : XXXX Here is the transaction hash : XXXX Please consider supporting me in anyway that you can, I have spoken to many in the same boat. This is not right, it's not ethical and probably not legal. Thank you! XXXX
Company Response:
State: CT
Zip: 060XX
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2021-11-18
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2021-11-18
Issue: Other service problem
Subissue:
Consumer Complaint: My account has been under review for a month now. I gold my crypto in coinbase and they but my account under review without any reason. I sold my last BTC XXXX XXXX and after that i can't sell nothing. Yes i have small amont of money there but for me it is big. I sent them first complaint in XXXX. XXXX. They answerd a plain replay in XXXX and i answerd back. The last lether they sent me was XXXX. XXXX and they told that they will close case in 48 hours and fix the problem but they didnt. Today i sent a New complaint and got again a stamp answer. I Hope that you can help me
Company Response:
State:
Zip: XXXXX
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2021-11-18
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with monetary relief
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2021-11-18
Issue: Managing, opening, or closing your mobile wallet account
Subissue:
Consumer Complaint: I have an account on www.coinbase.com where I trade with money and criptocurrencies. When creating the account, they verify my identity and I have been working without problems up to now. For about XXXX weeks, they have blocked my account because, according to them : " Right now your account is being reviewed and we need some time to verify your information. During this review, you will not be able to use Coinbase. Reviews usually take a few days. '' I have contacted them through their email support and they tell me to upload my identity documentation again and enter my personal data. I have uploaded it multiple times, both my driver 's license and my government identification card. They have closed the case but have not unlocked my account, so my account is blocked since it is always under review, so XXXX cant work with the platform and have my money blocked ( XXXX ). Coinbase case # XXXX XXXX XXXX
Company Response:
State:
Zip: XXXXX
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2021-11-18
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2021-11-18
Issue: Other transaction problem
Subissue:
Consumer Complaint: I exchanged XXXX for XXXX on Coinbase and then transferred my entire XXXX balance. Coinbase showed my XXXX balance dropping to XXXX, as expected, but the transfer was never received by the destination wallet. Oddly enough, Coinbase still shows the $ value of my assets as if it includes the XXXX balance, but the XXXX balance is at XXXX. As usual, it is impossible to contact Coinbase. I've tried via email, XXXX and phone. It is also impossible to view a transaction history on their platform, which I can only assume breaks some financial reporting laws. As of this point in time, there is over {$30000.00} missing from my account with no way to recover it or discuss with Coinbase. In the attached screenshot, you can see that my total account value is almost double the sum of my holdings, due to the missing XXXX holdings.
Company Response:
State: CA
Zip: 90046
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2021-11-18
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2021-11-18
Issue: Fraud or scam
Subissue:
Consumer Complaint: Coinbase account was not accessible. XXXX XXXX. I was told over the phone by Coinbase call center person in XXXX to reopen a new account and my funds will be deposited into my new account within XXXX. On XXXX XXXX I received {$0.00}. I had to lock my new account several times to speak with a live person. I then filed a complaint and was told they respond within a few days. I received an email on XXXX XXXX that my account was hacked and they will not be able to germ my funds back. If my account was hacked why did they not tell me this on XXXX XXXX that I dont have any funds or I was withdrawing funds from my account. I did not give anyone my personal information. I have all my bank statements deposit to coinbase and also the copy of the deposit that came fro. Coinbase for {$0.00} amount dated XX/XX/2021. They want me to file a police report and give me the IP address thats in XXXX CA. I never been to XXXX CA or was anywhere to XXXX CA on XXXX XXXX. My phone was working fine on XX/XX/XXXX so I dont understand how my phone was hacked and how they have my ID and took a selfie of my face to reset the password with XXXX factor authentication does not make since. I have lost a lot of money. I also contacted XXXX and they told me file with CFPB because I dont think I am only going through this situation I believe we more people. I checked on XXXX and there are more people having similar situations,
Company Response:
State: CA
Zip: 94122
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2021-12-07
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2021-11-17
Issue: Fraud or scam
Subissue:
Consumer Complaint: To whom it may concern, On Saturday, XX/XX/XXXX my phone was hacked. I was not able to make calls or receive texts. The hackers deactivated my cell phone. They had complete access to my phone. I lost service on my ( XXXX XXXX XXXX I was booted out of emails and accounts. When I checked my XXXX XXXX that evening, my funds had vanished. All {$13000.00}. I was devastated and reached out to customer support. They informed me that it wasnt their fault as the hacker used my password and XXXX codes. This is false as I did not authorize the transaction. They sent me an email when the hacker had access to the account with me realizing that my funds were stolen in four minutes, around XXXX that day. After trying to figure what has went on and back and forth with Coinbase Support I realized that another transaction had happened on XX/XX/XXXX. This was for {$1000.00} from my XXXX account. I have informed my bank immediately. I hope to have a full refund of my coins from Coinbase, all {$14000.00} and access to my account again. I have opened up a case with Coinbase regarding the fraudulent transactions. Please reach out if you need my case number. Look forward to hearing from you soon.
Company Response:
State: NC
Zip: 28401
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2021-11-17
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A